


Interlude: Last Man Standing

by leftofrevolution



Series: Shall Stand Alone [3]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-07
Updated: 2016-11-07
Packaged: 2018-08-29 15:29:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,026
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8495317
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/leftofrevolution/pseuds/leftofrevolution
Summary: A significant portion of the Mando’ade who had agreed to fight in Thrawn’s war had been off-planet during Maul’s most recent visit to Manda'yaim.





	

A significant portion of the Mando’ade who had agreed to fight in Thrawn’s war had been off-planet during Maul’s most recent visit to Manda'yaim. Most of those, however, were waiting at the first shift in hyperspace routes back to Thrawn’s fleet in the Unknown Regions two days into the five-day journey. While Thrawn himself was traveling in the _Lambda_ -class shuttle that had brought him to his mission in the Mid Rim to begin with, Maul had quarters aboard the battleship that conveyed Streng’s battalion, which was why he was not terribly surprised to hear knocking on his door within an hour of the shift. Mando’ad battleships had door chimes, but Maul had never known Kast to use them.

She strode in as soon as the door slid open, Saxon right on her heels, both of them stopping in the middle of the room and staring down at Maul—who hadn’t moved from his seat on the edge of his bed—assessing, until the door closed behind them. Both of them were still in their armor, though they each had their helmets tucked under one arm.

((What has Streng done now?)) said Kast, scowling in irritation; Streng had been her second before getting his own battalion, and she had never bothered to adjust her behavior to the fact that Streng was now technically her peer. When Maul stared at her impassively, she jerked her chin up impatiently. ((You would not call a holy war. Why does Streng have everyone convinced that you did?))

“He made what was supposed to be a private conversation into a public announcement.”

Standing at Kast’s six but easily able to meet Maul’s gaze over the top of Kast’s head, Saxon snorted, then badly pretended to turn it into a cough. ((Definitely deserved that broken arm, then. Lunatic.)) Despite the words, he sounded amused.

Kast did not bother glancing back at Saxon, though her scowl deepened. ((Should I be dealing with Streng?))

Maul shook his head. “He was not trying to undermine me. _Kaysh mirsh solus_.” Then he found himself also scowling. His lapsing into Mando’a whenever he spent enough time around it always seemed like a failure of control.

Neither Kast nor Saxon seemed to notice, though Saxon’s amusement remained in his voice when he said, ((So what’s the chain of command going to be for this?))

That was… actually a good question. He had frequently worked with Kast, Saxon, and Streng’s battalions in the past—and at least occasionally with Etiss and Rahl’s, though he was much less familiar with them—but never all at once. Still, the answer was obvious enough. “You’re in command,” he said to Kast—her expression remained unchanged—before turning to Saxon. “You’re liaison to the non-Mando’ad forces and second.” Saxon was technically senior to Kast, but he was the only one Maul could trust to talk to the Imperials without spitting, and he could not do that and lead both. Saxon seemed to be thinking the same because he just nodded, unsurprised. “Rahl is third, Streng fourth, Etiss fifth.”

((You should move quarters to the _Merciless_ , then,)) said Kast, bluntly, referring to her battleship.

Maul shook his head. “I will be staying aboard Thrawn’s flagship when we arrive.”

That was, of course, the thing that finally wiped the amusement off Saxon’s face. ((What? Why?))

“He did not seek my assistance so that I might lead Mando’ad _ori'ramikade_ against his enemies. He wants an advisor, not another commander.”

Kast’s scowl could not actually deepen any further, but what had merely irritation before had transformed into visible rage. ((He wants your Jedi magic, you mean. Was it Sidious who told him about you?))

Maul stared at her and said nothing. Sometimes he regretted telling her and Saxon (and Streng, but that had been more incidental) about the full nature of the relationship between himself and the Emperor. He had been nearly catatonic when Kast had first interrogated him—less than half a day since Grievous had cut down his mother in front of him and the burning of Dathomir—about the old man who kept on showing up for the seemingly sole purpose of murdering Maul’s family. The fact that the memory of that discussion in the wake of the complete devastation was not one of shame—that Kast still lived—was due almost entirely to Kast’s capacity for fury. He had not once in his entire life seen anyone so angry on his behalf as Kast. 

It had taken him a few years to become familiar enough with the culture of the Mando’ade to know the source of her anger, but it had been… gratifying, at the time. So for the most part he was fine with her knowing, but at the moment he would have preferred her ignorance. There were few things he hated more than explaining himself.

At his silence, Kast spat on the floor. ((You will not go back to that _demagolka_.))

“Of course not,” Maul said. “On the contrary, I’m trying to get as far away from him as possible. This will be a long war, and I have no plans to return until he is dead.” Which may be never, considering the nature of Sith sorcery, but that was also fine. He had left nothing behind in Sidious’s sphere of influence that he wasn’t willing to discard.

His words placated Kast slightly, smoothing the furrow between her eyes, but Saxon still looked troubled. ((Outsiders are strange about your magic. Do you trust this Grand Admiral?))

Maul shrugged. “I’ve known him days, but the threat is real. He’ll be a fine _narudar_.”

Saxon raised his eyebrows. ((This is a long hunt for that.))

Maul was already tired of this conversation, so he ignored the comment in favor of a more relevant matter. “We’ll be meeting with his command staff aboard his flagship, the _Admonitor_ , in four days’ time, for debrief about the enemy. It should be… informative.” He looked at Kast. “Do try not to spit on anyone important.”

At that, Kast smiled for the first time since she entered the room, though it really more resembled a smirk. ((No promises.))

**Author's Note:**

> I owe captainmazzic a birthday present and am terribly behind on delivering. This is not that birthday present.
> 
> Text like ((this)) is Mando'a.
> 
> Mando'a in _italics_ is translated via hover text.
> 
> Both Rook Kast and Gar Saxon are canon Mandalorians from the comic _Darth Maul: Son of Dathomir_ (also Gar Saxon just appeared on _Star Wars: Rebels_ , but this is an A/U anyway so he's been doing different stuff). This is [Rook](http://vignette4.wikia.nocookie.net/starwars/images/7/7d/Rook_Kast.png/revision/latest?cb=20160719203925) [Kast](http://www.ossus.pl/images/thumb/2/22/RookKast.jpg/200px-RookKast.jpg). This is [Gar](http://vignette1.wikia.nocookie.net/starwars/images/a/a3/Gar_Saxon_unmasked.png/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/499?cb=20161030182650) [Saxon](http://s15.postimg.org/njxi0mcgr/image.png).


End file.
